As much as we have been treated to an international break that featured such awe-inspiring matches as England’s World Cup Qualifiers against Hungary and the mighty Andorra, and with a trip to Poland to come tomorrow night, the fact is that most of us cannot wait for the interlull to end and we can get back to proper football at last.
No one will be looking forward to it more than Mikel Arteta who is desperate to get some points on the board and the critics off his back when we face Norwich at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
The great news for Arsenal is that we hope to see the pairing of Ben White and Gabriel together at last in defence, and there is also the likelihood of having Thomas Partey back in midfield alongside Lokonga although he may not be risked for 90 minutes.
All Arteta’s new signings should be available, although Tomiyasu will have only just arrived and will need time to settle in and train with his team-mates for a couple of weeks at least.
We have had injury scares from Elneny and Kolasinac on international duty, but they should be available by the weekend although Elneny is not completely certain.
Eddie Nketiah is still recovering and is a big doubt for Saturday, and the only other certain absentee is Granit Xhaka, who is suspended but is also isolating after contracting Covid on international duty with Switzerland.
So, all in all, Arteta will have a very big squad to choose from for a change, and he has had free time to train most of them together as a group ahead of the Norwich match.
Arsenal’s season starts now!